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Lot Essay
Fig.1 William Pether (1738-1821), after Joseph Wright of Derby, A.R.A. A Philosopher Giving a Lecture on the Orrery, mezzotint, 1768, on laid paper, published by J. Boydell, London
If while you turn the Handle you observe the Planets, you will see them perform their Motions in the same relative Times as they really do in the Heavens. (1)
A mechanical model of the Solar System, the orrery is a didactic astronomical instrument invented during the age of Enlightenment. It takes its name from an instrument made in 1712 by John Rowley (c.1665-1728) for Charles Boyle the fourth Early of Orrery (1676-1732). His design was copied from earlier instruments made by the renowned clockmakers George Graham (1673/4-1751) and Thomas Tompion (1639-1713); these survive at the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford [Inv. no. 97810] and the Adler Planetarium, Chicago [ A–156]. The earliest devices were restricted to a demonstration of only the Sun-Earth-Moon system; the instrument was expanded to include the known planets and embellished with a surrounding armillary hemisphere by the master craftsman Thomas Wright (fl. 1718-47) and termed the ‘grand orrery’.
This orrery was almost certainly made by the Troughton dynasty of instrument makers, who list in their catalogue of 1783 orreries from £50 to £250. (2) A near identical model inscribed ‘Troughton Invenit’ is held at the Science Museum, London [1924-471] that was either made by John Troughton (c.1716-88) or his nephews John (c.1739-1807) and Edward (c.1756-1835). The Bardin terrestrial globe dates to 1780/90 and could have been used up to 1805 when its cartography would have been updated with the circumnavigation of Tasmania (here it is given as a peninsula of Australia). Little is known of Robert Newman, he may have been the clockmaker made free in 1801 or possibly related to the mathematical instrument makers Thomas Newman (fl. 1764-1790) who apprenticed under the same master as John Troughton. King notes that small orreries cased with armillary hemispheres were rarely made after 1800, and by 1825 were “almost historical curiosities”. (3)
Luxurious instruments such as the orrery provided owners with a means of demonstrating their knowledge of the subject to others, but also acted as an import centrepiece for a lecture. The iconic image of the orrery taking centre stage in the theatre of learning is that in the painting by Joseph Wright (1734-97) of Derby A Philosopher Giving a Lecture on the Orrery that was further popularized by the rich mezzotints after it by William Pether in 1768 (fig. 1).
One turn of the handle rotates the Earth through one day, the Moon orbits the Earth, Venus and Mercury then orbit the central brass sphere of the Sun at their relative speeds. Thus the astronomical phenomena that appear in the sky can be demonstrated from an otherwise unobtainable vantage point to understand the causes behind events such as an eclipse. A mechanical show of natural philosophy such as this would have appealed greatly in Hanoverian England, where the status of astronomy had risen from being the pursuit of a select few initiated scholars to an activity that attracted the interest of wider society.
J. Harris, The Description and Use of the Globes and the Orrery, London 1783, p.158
J. Troughton, A Catalogue of Mathematical, Philosophical and Optical Instruments
H. King, Geared to the Stars, Bristol 1978, p. 166
If while you turn the Handle you observe the Planets, you will see them perform their Motions in the same relative Times as they really do in the Heavens. (1)
A mechanical model of the Solar System, the orrery is a didactic astronomical instrument invented during the age of Enlightenment. It takes its name from an instrument made in 1712 by John Rowley (c.1665-1728) for Charles Boyle the fourth Early of Orrery (1676-1732). His design was copied from earlier instruments made by the renowned clockmakers George Graham (1673/4-1751) and Thomas Tompion (1639-1713); these survive at the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford [Inv. no. 97810] and the Adler Planetarium, Chicago [ A–156]. The earliest devices were restricted to a demonstration of only the Sun-Earth-Moon system; the instrument was expanded to include the known planets and embellished with a surrounding armillary hemisphere by the master craftsman Thomas Wright (fl. 1718-47) and termed the ‘grand orrery’.
This orrery was almost certainly made by the Troughton dynasty of instrument makers, who list in their catalogue of 1783 orreries from £50 to £250. (2) A near identical model inscribed ‘Troughton Invenit’ is held at the Science Museum, London [1924-471] that was either made by John Troughton (c.1716-88) or his nephews John (c.1739-1807) and Edward (c.1756-1835). The Bardin terrestrial globe dates to 1780/90 and could have been used up to 1805 when its cartography would have been updated with the circumnavigation of Tasmania (here it is given as a peninsula of Australia). Little is known of Robert Newman, he may have been the clockmaker made free in 1801 or possibly related to the mathematical instrument makers Thomas Newman (fl. 1764-1790) who apprenticed under the same master as John Troughton. King notes that small orreries cased with armillary hemispheres were rarely made after 1800, and by 1825 were “almost historical curiosities”. (3)
Luxurious instruments such as the orrery provided owners with a means of demonstrating their knowledge of the subject to others, but also acted as an import centrepiece for a lecture. The iconic image of the orrery taking centre stage in the theatre of learning is that in the painting by Joseph Wright (1734-97) of Derby A Philosopher Giving a Lecture on the Orrery that was further popularized by the rich mezzotints after it by William Pether in 1768 (fig. 1).
One turn of the handle rotates the Earth through one day, the Moon orbits the Earth, Venus and Mercury then orbit the central brass sphere of the Sun at their relative speeds. Thus the astronomical phenomena that appear in the sky can be demonstrated from an otherwise unobtainable vantage point to understand the causes behind events such as an eclipse. A mechanical show of natural philosophy such as this would have appealed greatly in Hanoverian England, where the status of astronomy had risen from being the pursuit of a select few initiated scholars to an activity that attracted the interest of wider society.
J. Harris, The Description and Use of the Globes and the Orrery, London 1783, p.158
J. Troughton, A Catalogue of Mathematical, Philosophical and Optical Instruments
H. King, Geared to the Stars, Bristol 1978, p. 166